Moroccan activists fight child marriage to offer girls a brighter future
Hayat was just 15 when her father, through legal loopholes in Morocco’s Family Code, bypassed the minimum marriage age of 18 and obtained court approval for her marriage to a man 10 years her senior.
The mother of one filed for divorce two years later. Her husband had been physically abusing her, she said.
Hayat, now 25, is one of many women in Morocco whose underage marriage was enabled by Articles 20 and 21 of the Family Code, which give state-appointed family affairs judges the power to authorise child marriages in certain circumstances.
“I dropped out of school at a young age and that is when my father decided I would marry a relative,” Hayat told The National. “I was a child then and didn’t even know what marriage meant.”
Hayat soon found herself trapped, with a husband who mistreated her.
“He treated me as if I was an adult capable of carrying tremendous responsibilities. This was not the future I wanted,” she said. “I was shocked with this new reality that just happened overnight.”
Fourteen per cent of women aged 20 to 24 in Morocco were first married or in a union before the age of 18, Unicef says.
Child marriages constituted 12 per cent of total marriage contracts between 2004 and 2019, dropping to just over 7 per cent in 2019, recent data published by the Moroccan Public Prosecution found.
In 2004, amendments to the Family Code increased the minimum legal age required for girls to marry from 15 to 18. However, according to data published by Civil Connections, a non-profit organisation that opposed the practice, 81 per cent of about 32,000 requests for child marriages filed in 2019 were approved by family courts.
Article 20 of the Family Code stipulates a family affairs judge may approve the marriage of a girl or boy below the legal age but must give well-substantiated justification. Article 21 says a parent or guardian must approve of a minor’s marriage and both the minor and the parent must sign a marriage authorisation request.
The judge can either accept or reject the request.
Amending these articles has become a vital mission for civil societies and advocacy organisations, which have, in recent years, accelerated their efforts to combat the issue.
Aicha, 30, was married at 16 and divorced two years later due to her husband’s gambling addiction, she told The National. When her family arranged for her to marry, she was interviewed by the family affairs judge with her father. “He asked if I was able to take on such a responsibility. I had no choice but to say ‘yes’, naturally. The whole family was waiting for the happy news to celebrate us as newly-weds,” she told The National.
“A year after our marriage, I discovered he was addicted to gambling. I told my mother but we kept it a secret between us.”
Socio-economic and cultural issues such as poverty and widespread illiteracy were identified by Morocco’s Supreme Council of the Judicial Power as significant factors leading to the prevalence of child marriage.
Several initiatives are raising awareness among rural communities on the grave effect of child marriage on girls’ development, education and career prospects.
Project Soar, a Moroccan non-profit group founded in 2015, offers aid to disadvantaged rural areas to end the deep-rooted practice.
Building a Greater Girls’ Movement (Bigger Movement) initiative, launched last year by Project Soar, also aims to close legal loopholes by 2025.
Tens of teenage graduates from Soar’s programmes are now leading efforts to equip girls with legal and advocacy knowledge to engage with ministers to discuss modifications to the Family Code.
Nour El Hoda, 15, said the programme gave her a deeper understanding.
“I didn’t know what to expect but as I attended more sessions I began to understand more about child marriage and self-confidence,” she said.
She was a member of the delegation that attended November’s parliamentary deliberations, calling it life-changing.
“The empowerment workshop altered the way I think of marriage for girls my age.”
A report found 81 per cent of about 32,000 requests for child marriages filed in 2019 were approved by family courts
This story was produced in collaboration with Egab